


Intertwined

by RoseByAnyOtherName17



Series: 30 Day Writing Challenge (Derek/Stiles) [18]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bathing, First Time, Hypothermia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-18
Updated: 2016-08-18
Packaged: 2018-08-09 12:38:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7802176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseByAnyOtherName17/pseuds/RoseByAnyOtherName17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A hand settled into Stiles' hair, gently weaving around the strands. "What're you doing?" he murmured.</p>
<p>"I'm going to wash your hair."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Intertwined

It was Derek’s fault.

Well, it wasn’t completely his fault, but blaming Derek made Stiles feel a little bit better. 

Which was why he felt totally justified in camping out on Derek’s couch, wrapped in a thick blanket and resolutely refusing to leave. Although, it was only partly by choice. He couldn’t be on his feet for very long without getting dizzy, and the pack made a unanimous decision to keep him somewhere that someone could keep an eye on him. He’d protested a little bit, called his dad to get him to pick him up, but even the sheriff agreed that Derek’s was probably the best place for him right now. “You spend most of your time there anyways,” Dad reasoned, which was true. But it was one thing to choose to spend time at Derek’s, and another thing to have the decision made for him.

Luckily for Stiles, Danny’s father ran the bookstore that he worked at, so it was a simple matter of calling in and explaining that, for reasons he couldn’t really disclose, he had fallen into a lake in the middle of winter and would not be in for a few days. He could practically hear the smirk in his boss’s voice, but he told Stiles to come back whenever he felt ready to.

“You know, I can take care of myself just fine,” Stiles grumbled in Derek’s general direction, which wasn’t actually that far away, because Derek was settled on the other end of the couch, feet stretched out to rest under the blanket in Stiles’ lap. “It’s just a little vertigo.”

“You can’t even go to the bathroom without someone helping you get there,” Derek said, turning a page in his book. “I’d say you need someone to take care of you.” 

“We both know you have better things to do than keep an eye on me.”

“Not really,” Derek countered. “The selkie is taken care of and I was planning on taking a week off anyways.”

“To visit Cora.”

“And then she yelled at me about leaving you after you almost died of hypothermia.”

“She does realize that the pack isn’t just me and you, right?”

Derek shrugged. “Yeah, but I don’t mind. There are worse ways to spend a week.”

Stiles squinted at him suspiciously, but Derek was sliding his feet out from under the blanket and getting up. “By the way? You need a shower.”

“I’ll get right on that as soon as I can stand up without dying,” Stiles muttered. Then he yelped, because Derek was scooping him up in his arms, blanket and all, and carrying him toward the bathroom. “What—Derek, put me down! You’re not going to help me take a shower!”

“No, I’m not,” Derek said, and to Stiles’ surprise, he was grinning. “But I am helping you take a bath.”

“No.” Stiles closed his eyes and shook his head, even though it made his head hurt. “No, you’re really not. If you have a problem with how I smell, take me home. You’re not—no.”

“I’ve already seen you mostly naked,” Derek pointed out, and that was exactly why Stiles was protesting, because Derek had been the one to pull him out of the lake, the one who had stripped them both down to their boxers and wrapped himself around Stiles to put warmth back into his body. And that had been okay, because Stiles had only been vaguely conscious for most of it. But now he was wide awake, and yes, he was out of college and was much better at controlling his body’s reactions to Derek. 

However, having Derek so close for the last two days, constantly reaching out to brush his fingers through Stiles’ hair as he walked by and insert himself into Stiles’ space to share body heat…it was bringing up feelings that Stiles had been burying for years. After this was over, he was going to have to avoid Derek for a long time to get those feelings back under control. 

Derek was set him down to sit on the toilet while he filled the tub with warm water, pouring in some bubble bath that Stiles would make fun of him for if he wasn’t trying to keep himself calm. A moment later, Derek reached out to strip Stiles of his shirt, but Stiles pulled away. “I can get in on my own.” He kept his eyes on his knees until Derek got up and gently closed the door behind him. It took a few minutes, but the instant Stiles had settled into the tub, Derek was back, taking Stiles’ seat on the toilet. Stiles chose not to say anything, instead relaxing back until all but his head was submerged.

A moment later, a hand settled in his hair, fingers gently weaving through the strands. Stiles resisted pushing up into it. “What’re you doing?” he murmured instead, ignoring the skip in his heartbeat.

“I’m going to wash your hair,” Derek told him, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. “Go under for a moment, will you?” He didn’t apply any pressure, just kept his hand there, even when Stiles held his breath and dipped underwater for a second. Derek pushed it back from his forehead before stretching across the tub to grab the shampoo bottle in the rack above Stiles’ head, which caused his shirt to ride up enough that Stiles could see skin for a second. He forced himself to look away, resisting the blush that threatened to spread over his face.

Derek was gentle, rubbing the shampoo into Stiles’ hair, hands lingering long after Stiles thought he had done a pretty thorough job. He ignored it, choosing instead to scrub at his skin, hidden under the mountain of bubbles. Derek put a finger under Stiles’ chin to tilt his head back, and their eyes met for a second before Derek put a hand over Stiles’ eyes and poured a cup of water over his hair. The gesture was so tender that Stiles shivered, and then Derek was removing his hand and standing up, clearing his throat. “I’ll, uh. Let me know if you need any help or anything.” 

Stiles swallowed hard, bringing himself back to reality. He stood up carefully, drying himself off with the fluffy towel Derek had left out and letting the wall take most of his weight as he shimmied into the sweatpants that were on the counter. He held the shirt in his hands, staring down at it, and then it clicked.

He stumbled out of the bathroom, straight into Derek, who immediately grabbed his elbows to steady him. “This is my shirt,” Stiles said stupidly. 

Derek raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

“This is my shirt,” Stiles repeated. “I’ve been missing this shirt since sophomore year of high school, ever since you hid out in my bedroom.”

Derek shrugged. “So?”

“So you never gave it back!”

“I’m sorry, at the time I had more important things to worry about than returning your shirt.” He looked hopelessly confused. “I don’t understand why you’re so upset about this. You had a million shirts at the time.”

Stiles wrenched out of his grip, letting his back hit the wall behind him. “Then why didn’t you give it back after everything?”

“It didn’t seem like it mattered after that, what with the Kanima and then the alpha pack.” But Derek was scratching the back of his head like there was something he wasn’t saying. 

Breathing in deep, Stiles laid his palm over the werewolf’s heart, feeling it beating in his chest. “And that’s it?” Stiles said quietly. “You just…forgot about it?” 

Derek nodded, and his heartbeat stuttered.

Stiles looked up at him for a long moment, and Derek’s eyes darted over his face like he was searching for something. He seemed to find it, because he crowded in close against Stiles, placing a hand on his hip and cupping the back of his head with the other, stroking through still-damp hair. He pressed his forehead to Stiles’, closing his eyes.

In high school, whenever Stiles thought about the way Derek might kiss, he’d always imagined him to be as intense as he was doing everything else. He thought he might push Stiles around, hold him so tightly he left bruises. Then, later, as he’d gotten to know him, Stiles began to wonder if maybe Derek would just be firm, would let the control seep back and forth between them.

This was nothing like any of that. Derek’s fingers just barely ghosted over his skin as he slid a hand up Stiles’ chest, to curl a hand over his heart the same way Stiles had before. He kissed so tentatively that Stiles felt lightheaded with how soft it was, like Derek wasn’t sure he was allowed to. Like he’d wanted to for so long that it didn’t feel real. And Stiles…Stiles couldn’t breathe like that. 

He wound an arm around Derek’s waist to pull him closer, used his free hand to tilt Derek’s head and kiss him deeper. Derek made a broken noise against his mouth, hands tightening and loosening as he just sank into Stiles. Stiles had to pull away to breathe, to look up at Derek and shudder at the affection there. “How long?” 

Derek’s voice came out hoarse. “Since you left for college. Maybe before, but that’s when I knew, and I kept the shirt because it smelled like you and I didn’t realize later that it’s because you smell like home.” He gasped out brokenly against Stiles’ mouth when Stiles surged forward, closing the distance between them again to tug Derek’s bottom lip between his teeth and suck on it, until Derek was lifting him up and carrying him upstairs and just falling into him the second they got to the bed.

It was slow, and Stiles looked up into Derek’s eyes the entire time, felt him shaking. He whispered in Derek’s ear until he couldn’t form words anymore, and afterward, turned on his side and just staring at the other, he brought up their entwined hands and pressed his lips to the back of Derek’s hand. “I have to tell you something,” he said quietly.

Derek hummed sleepily, eyes already slipping closed.

“I kept your shirt too,” Stiles admitted, and Derek just wrapped himself around Stiles until they couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began anymore.

Stiles felt warmer than he had in years.


End file.
